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Super Bowl games writers play
First of all, if you came here hoping for some play-by-play recap of the Super Bowl action, or if you’re thinking you’ll see some silly YouTube vid of writers tackling each other…ah, no. But if you’re a writer, or even if you’re looking for ways to boost your own productivity, I may be able to help. For six weeks, a bunch of writers over on Freelance Success are having a Query Challenge. That’s where we break into … Read entire article »
Filed under: Edutainment
My Chuck-It List: 4 Things I’m Never Gonna Do Before I Die
I like to think of myself as a positive person. Optimistic. Glass half-full. And adventurous, too. Shoot, when I was 18, my sister (then 20) and I drove all the way across the country and back, Syracuse to California, in a Yugo. (We returned with a flat tire, no oil, and the windshield wipers stuck to the glass.) We slept in a pup tent (and being the younger sib, I got stuck with the side … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
Whoop! Whoop! It’s a sponge candy alert!
If you’re from the Northwest, you probably know it as sea foam. From Britain? It’s honeycomb toffee you’re eating. Where I grew up (Buffalo), it’s sponge candy. And you know what I’m going to say next. That’s right. “A candy by any other name would still taste as unbefreakinglievable.” Hey, you didn’t know I was going to say that? Cool! So, if you’re any kind of frequent flyer at Polka Dot Suitcase, you probably do suspect what’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Toys for Families
Snow in North Carolina
‘Member that January campfire I was crowing about? Yeah, well…I remember it, too. Fondly. Wistfully, even. Because Mother Nature came along late Friday evening and dumped some snow on us here in the South. Then added a bit of ice for good measure. Everything ground to a halt. Now, the kids are stoked, naturally. And so was Big Fish, who hails from south of the Mason Dixon line, too. They all spent a lot of time … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
What’s that in your ear? A worm?
Ah, the earworm. When you get a song stuck in your head, and there it stays. And stays. It pops into your head as you’re brushing your teeth, dogs you as you toss and turn at night, and springs from your lips when you’re sitting in traffic. (Or, heaven forbid, an important meeting with the new client.) I’ve had Gordon Lightfoot’s Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald in my ear ever since it popped up on Sirius … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
My big fat alliteration week
Moms juggle a lot of things — that’s a given. Some moms handle it better than others. Me? I’m scatterbrained…always thinking about a hundred things at once, dreaming about things, plotting and planning future events, cloud gazing. So I need a little help keeping things organized and on schedule. Back when the kids were little, I came up with my alliteration week. I divided the household chores up by day, and assigned each an easy-to-remember day. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Edutainment, Fooling Around
Oy! Volunteering
I’m so excited, I could just bust. Or maybe that’s just because I ate too much for breakfast and my pants are tight. But I don’t think so. I think it’s because we just scheduled our First Camping Trip of 2010. Squeeeeee! Destination: Charleston, SC. We’re going to be doing some volunteer work. Bagging oysters. Or maybe counting them. I’m a little unclear on the details. But nevertheless, we’ll be doing our part to help the environment. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Family Travel
Two under two
My essay originally appeared in American Baby magazine. My sons are 20 months apart in age. This means they share the same toys, pals, and interests. It also means they have to share me—and it’s a lot easier for them to share the balls and blocks. Having two under two presents unique challenges. An infant demands time, energy, and willingness to be “on call.” A toddler has the same demands, but he’s also mobile—able to get into … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
Can you fix it?
As a parent, it’s hard to resist the urge to fix all your kid’s rough spots. You want to go head to Reebok with the doofus kid who picks on your kid at the playground. You want to take that obliterated RC helicopter and make it fly again. You want to find the beloved Swiss army knife that got dropped in the woods. There are some things you can fix. As Mister Steel knows, I’m fairly … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
Big, bad media
You know how, when you’re sensitive about something, you hear or see it all over the place? It’s like being aware you’ve got a zit on the end of your nose and you’re really self-conscious about it. So, I’m a writer. And I gotta say, it gets a little old hearing about how The Media is so horrible. I never considered myself a member of the media. I was just a writer. But then a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around